Can Swelling After Blepharoplasty Be Permanent?

Dear Hollygirl,
Swelling following lower lid blepharoplasty is not particularly uncommon. If the muscle had folded upon itself it sounds like your surgeon performed a subciliary incision to the lower lid. This approach can address the fat and excess skin and muscle of the lower lid, but, the approach does require an incision and more dissection to the area.
Too much fat removal or improper fat repositioning may also give areas of the lower lid a puffy or hollow appearrance. Surgery in this area will disrupt the lymphatic system of the lower lid and can take several weeks before it is reestablished and morning swelling will resolve.
I am sure your surgeon weighed all of their options carefully, but, reoperating in such a short period of time does not give the tissue adequate time to naturally heal.
Your postoperative edema may have subsided spontaneously, but, now you will have to wait for the effects of the second surgery to subside. Time and patience may be all that are required to enable you to achieve the result you were hoping for, but, a conservative steroid injection to the area of concern may help to expedite the outcome.

Swelling after a blepharoplasty is affected by several
factors. The type of procedure
performed and the manner in which is it performed can have a significant effect
on postoperative swelling. If the
operation is performed by a well-trained and experienced surgeon, then the
trauma involved with the procedure should be kept to a minimum, thus helping
reduce postoperative swelling.
Some eyelid procedures are more complex than others. The more internal trauma that occurs,
the more the effect on postoperative swelling. Normally, this swelling will be significantly
diminished within the first month after surgery. Some patients may take several months to have resolution of
the swelling. Commonly, these
patients exhibit significant swelling or puffiness in their eyelids prior to
the procedure.

















In order to diminish the
swelling, it is important to follow the directions of your plastic
surgeon. Normally, this includes
some cold compresses in the immediate postoperative period, elevation of the
head until swelling subsides, and avoiding any type of activity that is
strenuous enough to make your face turn red.



In some patients, though this may
take longer than normal, swelling is not permanent.